At least one person -- other than Jimmy Garoppolo -- seems to be looking forward to the first four games of the Patriots' season, for which starting quarterback Tom Brady will be absent.

Dino Babers, the head football coach at Syracuse, is a proud member of the unofficial Garoppolo fan club, which makes sense given his ties to the Patriots' backup: Babers coached Garoppolo at Eastern Illinois for the final two years of his college career.

On Tuesday, the coach appeared on ESPN's Mike & Mike. During that interview, Babers was given a chance to talk up his former quarterback. He didn't waste the opportunity.

Babers said quote - "Jimmy Garoppolo was the William Tell, to me, of college football. I've never seen a quarterback that could hit exactly what he was throwing at. I'm not talking about putting it on a guy's body, you put your hand out there and he's sticking the ball right in the middle of your palm.

"You take that accuracy and put it with someone who has the second-fastest release I've ever seen. The only release I've ever seen faster was Dan Marino's. He has [the] second-fastest release I've ever seen. And you've got an outstanding quarterback."

Babers also called Tom Brady the best of the best and doesn't think Garoppolo will ultimately take his job.

Adding quote - "If Bill Belichick put a second-round draft pick on him, he knows what he's doing."